Special centennial stamp cancellation is provided

Monday, October 15, 2012

TERRY AHNER/TIMES NEWS Stephen Larargo, postmaster of the Palmerton Post Office, distributes an envelope to Priscilla Offen, of Palmerton, as part of a Special Stamp cancellation Sunday at the Palmerton Area Heritage Center in honor of the Centennial of Palmerton's incorporation.

By TERRY AHNER tahner@tnonline.com

It was an opportunity to commemorate a huge milestone in the history of Palmerton.

A Special Stamp cancellation was provided on Sunday at the Palmerton Area Heritage Center in honor of the Centennial of the borough's incorporation. The borough was officially incorporated on Oct. 14, 1912.

Those who wished to purchase an envelope, or put a stamp on, were provided with a special envelope and stamp, courtesy of the Palmerton Area Historical Society, for a contribution of a $1.

The envelopes have the Centennial design, which depicts an image of the bandstand together with the date of incorporation and date of the centennial embossed on the left-hand-side of the envelope.

The design was created by local artist Paula Zelienka, who made the postal cancellation design to be used to cancel stamps placed on the envelopes.

For years, the post office has made available first day cancellation, whereby they issue a new stamp on a specific date, typically one that coincides with a special event or a specific person. Since the event fell on a Sunday, Stephen Larargo, postmaster of the Palmerton Post Office, was kind enough to make himself available so that people who wanted to have an envelope canceled on this particular day could do so.

Larargo said the post office was more than happy to help the Historical Society commemorate the Centennial of Palmerton.

"We like to give to the community," Larargo said. "The postal service does understand how difficult it is for people to get out, and we encourage our employees to go to their homes and take all of their mail to their mailboxes."

Priscilla Offen, of Palmerton, was among the many to stop in at the Heritage Center on this most special of occasions.

"I was next door at the Quilt Show at the [Palmerton Area] Library when my friend asked if I knew about them issuing stamps," Offen said. "It's about the celebration of Palmerton's incorporation, and it's only $1 for a stamp."

George Ashman, a member of the Historical Society, noted that the envelopes are a limited edition, as only 500 were printed by the organization.

"We were pleasantly surprised at the rate at which they're going out today," Ashman said. "There's been quite a few preorders, and people coming in and out."

In 1998, the Palmerton Area Chamber of Commerce commissioned a logo and had a competition for a logo design to celebrate the Centennial of the founding of Palmerton.

That logo design was then incorporated into a postmark cancellation to celebrate the July 3, 1998, Centennial of the founding of the borough.